Welcome to the very first post on Going Green for Fun and Profit! I wanted to kick off this first post by covering some perfect examples of my two favorite reasons for going green: it is cool, and it can help you save money! These examples are the cool energy monitoring devices that were showcased at the recent Consumer Electronics Show, or CES. There are some pretty cool hi tech gadgets that are coming out in this sector, and, for some, tracking and managing energy use is just a small part of their coolness. Let’s take a brief look at a few of these devices.
Energy Management System 100 from Control4
This system includes a touch-screen energy controller and a Zigbee-enabled wireless thermostat. The system is capable of being expanded to use the energy controller for other applications, such as managing charging an electric car, or displaying news and weather. The company has even launched an app store for third-party apps, so it has the potential to be very flexible. The system is expected to be ready in April, and will most likely be initially installed by utilities as part of smart grid trials.
Home Energy Management System from Direct Energy
A number of companies contributed to this demonstration system, including Whirlpool (smart appliances), Lennox (a two-way thermostat), and OpenPeak (the central touch-screen control device). The device will allow you to control heating and cooling, as well as your appliances; it can also serve as a hub for a wireless home network and show energy use in real time. Direct Energy, an energy retailer, will test the system in around 40 Houston area homes, with installation provided by the Best Buy Geek Squad.
Picowatt Wi-Fi Smart Plug from Tenrehte Technologies
These smart plugs will allow you to monitor and control energy usage for appliances and electronics, and even eliminate the “vampire” effect where electronics consume energy when they are on stand-by. They will do so without the need for a smart electricity meter, because each Picowatt smart plug is actually a mini Linux router than can communicate via Wi-Fi to a computer or smart phone. This gets around the problem where utilities have been reluctant to make smart meter data available due to potential security concerns, and puts the power to create a home energy monitoring network in your hands. The smart plugs are expected to be available to consumers in April for $79.
In my opinion, the most awesome thing about these systems is their potential to make setting up an eco friendly home cool. Maybe I’m just a geek (or a control freak?), but I would love to have information about the electric demand of all of my electronics at my fingertips on the latest touch-screen gadget. Then I could be master of my domain of little energy-sucking devices…mwah hah hah hah! 
Erm…anyway, I think it would be cool, and, if I can save some money in the process, even better. How about you?
If you want to read more about the green technology at CES, check out the next post, where we’ll go back to CES to take a look at a cool new electric bike from Sanyo!